Ino saw Sakura follow the suited man into the studio, and then watched her storm back out not five minutes later. "Sakura," she called out as she made her way towards her friend, who did not stop walking.
"Sakura," she said, catching her arm when she finally caught up. "Hey, are you alright?"
Sakura stopped and seemed to snap out of a daze. "Sorry," she apologised as she focused on Ino. "I was thinking."
"I'll say," said Ino. "Who's the hunk you followed into the studio?"
Sakura tensed, but said nonchalantly, "He's working on promoting the new movie."
"Must be a pretty important guy to get you past studio security like that," Ino pressed.
"He's a publicist," Sakura said curtly. The two stood in silence for a moment. "Anyway," Sakura continued, "Sasuke Uchiha won't be making any appearances till right before the interview, so there really isn't a point in waiting around all day."
Ino, despite her curiosity, did not push for more information about the suited stranger. "Well," she said lightly. "I'm all dressed up so it would be a shame to go straight home. Coffee number two?"
Sakura laughed. She and Ino were complete opposites, and not just in appearance. Ino was tall, blonde and slender, standing at 5'8". Her looks and figure had gotten her various modelling gigs over the past 8 years – enough for her to support herself since the young age of sixteen. She was beautiful and could be silly at times, but Sakura knew that inside, Ino was a strong, capable, and independent woman.
Sakura, in contrast, was petite with darker hair. She recognised that she was somewhat attractive, but no head-turner like her blonde friend. In fact, where Ino made a career out of her looks, Sakura usually tried to find methods requiring the least amount of effort in order to appear reasonably presentable. The two had gone to school together, but where Ino had left for a big city at sixteen to pursue her modelling career, Sakura had gone on to study journalism on the other side of the country. They had hardly seen each other in seven years, until about a year before, when Sakura, too, had made the move to the city.
They had definitely made up for the lost seven years since then.
"Do you think 9:30 in the morning is too early for a drink with more punch?" Sakura joked.
Ino laughed. "Sakura, my dear, it is NEVER too early for that."
Sakura found herself waiting at the side entrance to MBS Studios ten minutes before Sasuke Uchiha was due to arrive. Young children and their parents were spilling out the door, chattering excitedly. Sakura guessed that the studio must have put on a special kids' event earlier that evening. She realised that the popular actor might not get into the studio as quietly as he had hoped. Ino had been called up last minute to stand in for another model that was unwell, so she was missing out on this waiting game.
Silently, she ran through what she knew about the man. His popularity had been steadily increasing over the 5 years since his on-screen debut, but it was truly this new movie that had thrown him into the spotlight. The cast had been touring the world to promote it, and this city – hometown to a majority of the cast – was their final stop. In all his previous interviews, he had always been witty without being crude, confident without being cocky, engaging, intelligent, and just completely charming the pants off anyone who came into contact with him.
Sakura had to admit she was a fan. He was talented and attractive, and she had been surprised at his apparent modesty despite all the attention he was getting. Still, she had never been one to fawn over fame – a trait she had come to realise was actually an asset in her line of work. She had seen many a journalist end up with very mediocre interviews as a result of being distracted and starstruck.
Naruto had wanted her to weasel out a confirmation of Uchiha's relationship with co-star Tsunade, who, at 36, was eight years his senior. Her nutjob of a boss had called her up again earlier to remind her exactly what to ask, offering "encouragement" on how to persevere until she got the answers she wanted. In any case, the age difference was not the scandal. Tsunade was married. Sakura sighed at the thought.
"Well fancy seeing you here."
Sakura turned to face Kabuto standing behind her with a smirk on his face. "Surprised? I saw you walk into the studio after a very familiar face early this morning. You left straight after, and in my past experience, you don't leave the site of the story before you get the story unless you know there is no story," he continued.
Sakura scowled. "I hope you don't write your articles the way you speak, Kabuto. That sentence structure was atrocious."
"Ha, funny. In any case, I thought about it and I finally recognised him under those sunglasses. Shikamaru Nara. He likes to keep a low profile outside of his professional connections, but he's a public relations god, and it would make sense that he's on this promotional campaign."
"Is there a point to this?" Sakura interjected, keeping her eyes open for any sign of the actor's arrival. The children around them were getting rowdy.
"WELL," Kabuto said smugly. "As I recall, he dated one Sakura Haruno for a couple of years, but that ended more than a year ago. Still, I put two and two together and figured that if I just followed you, I'd eventually find Sasuke Uchiha."
Sakura's scowl deepened. She didn't need to be reminded of her relationship with Shikamaru. Although she wouldn't admit it to herself, seeing him that morning had shaken her. She had mentally kicked herself over and over again for even calling out to him, let alone following him into the studio. Still, she consoled herself with the fact that she had gotten a good tip. She glanced at her watch. 8:55pm; maybe the tip wasn't as good as she had believed.
She moved out of the way of a family of four as they exited the studio, just as a black car pulled up to the sidewalk. A young man got out of the car quickly and unceremoniously, followed by an older one – Uchiha and his agent, respectively. Sakura and Kabuto both rushed over to the actor, Kabuto already directing a flurry of questions at him from fifteen feet away.
"Sasuke, can I get a comment on your relationship with Tsunade?" Kabuto asked directly, not-so-subtly shoving Sakura out of his way.
"We're not answering any questions out here tonight," the agent said, guiding Sasuke towards the doors. Some of the families in the area were starting to notice Sasuke's arrival, although security was effectively keeping them away for the moment.
"Come on, Neji," the actor said lightly. "A couple of questions won't hurt."
"Sasuke," Sakura called out, and he turned his startlingly intense gaze towards her. She faltered and looked away for a moment towards the street, but recomposed herself almost immediately and continued. "What do you have to say about the rumours that – "
Sakura stopped mid-sentence. A little boy had dropped his toy onto the road behind the car that had just unloaded the actor and his agent. Sakura saw the driver put the car into reverse just as the child stepped out onto the road to retrieve it.
Without thinking, she dropped everything and ran towards the little boy, pulling him off the road just in time.
Or so she thought.
Too late, she realised the car had rolled over the one foot she still had on the road. Even as the driver realised what had happened and moved the car forward off her foot, she lost her balance and fell back onto the sidewalk, hitting her head as a sharp pain shot through her leg.
Amidst the muffled sounds of concerned passers-by and one hysterical parent, she heard heated voices.
Sasuke, not now.
We can't leave her here.
Somebody's already called the ambulance. I'll send someone from our team over with her to the hospital.
Sasuke, what is your relationship with Tsunade?
Get inside, now!
She struggled to focus on the blurred faces over her, and the last thing she saw before falling unconscious was the concerned frown of the very handsome Sasuke Uchiha.